Handling apparatus for coal and the like



March 30 1926.

c. A. SCHUBERT HANDLING APPARATUS FOR COAL AND THE LIKE 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 5,

C. A. SCHUBERT HANDLING APPARATUS FOR COAL AND THE LIKE Filed April 5, 1922 3' Sheets-Sheet 2 6/ /9 Inf/@Zflif; WW QWMJMM; game/flak I March 30, 1926. 1,578,765

(I. A. vSCIHUBERT HANDLING APPARATUS FOR COAL AND THE LIKE Filed April 5. 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet .'5

.5: I I l, g V CdcwencgQ6Merz Patented Mar. 30, 1926.

UNMEQ CLAItENGE A. SCI'IUBERT, OF FINDLAY, OI- IIO.

HANDLING APPARATUS FOR coAL AND THE LIKE.

A plication filed. April 5,

To all whom it may concern: 1

Be it known that I, CLARENCE A. SCI-IU- nnn'r, a citizen of the Unitedbtates, mitt ing at Findlay, :Ohio, have invented certain 5 new and useful Improvements in Handling Apparatus for Coal and the like, of which the following "is a specification. 7

' Though the 'inechanism'of' his invention; is designed primarily for thehandling of 10 coal, it isadapted also for the handling of gravel, ore, and the like, and among the ob-"r jects of this invention are to improve upon present methods of handling coal, gravel, ore and the like; to provide'ineans' for hoisting coal from approximate ground level to the top of a storage bin or reservoir therefor and place the samein the bin without cans ing unnecessary breakage of the coal; to provide conveying means for, distributing coal and the like .to' different ones'ot a plurality of storage reservoirs; to improve upon. the mechanism for operating the hoist ing bucket; to improve uponthe mechanism for carrying the hoisting bucket; to provide 5 appropriate means for indicating the position-o'f the hoisting bucket relativelyto cer-' tain switches; to provide ineansfor indicating when to empty he hoisting bucket; and such further object-s, advantages and capabilities as will later more fully appear.

My invention further resides inthe com-- hination, construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanyingdram ings, and, while I have shown therein a pre terred embodiment, I desire the sametobe considered as illustrative onlyan'd not as limiting my invention.

in the drawings annexed *ing a part hereof, I v a 40 Fig, 1 isa broken vertical: fragmentary hereto and form section of a structure embodying my ini- 7 g thenormal tendency of. the bucket is to reprovements. g

' Fig. 1 shows a. modified form of track and means for holding the bucket carrier to "the traclc- M' v Fig. 1}? is a fragmentary view otqthe hoist showing the applicationthereto 'ofan indicating mechanism.

Fig. 1 is" an elevation of the indicator j stantially through the center of mass ofthe m shown in Fig. '1". I I

Fig. '2 is" an end elevation and Fig. 3 a.-

side elevation of the bucket and carrier shown in Fig. 1.- I

. l e; s f gm n y substan ia ly sen- 1922'. I Serial 110,549,834.

t'rabvertica-l section through the construction shown in Fig. 3.

Figs .-5;and 6 show resec tively' an end elevationiand a side elevation of thejack movable along the track :over the storage res-V ervoirs shownin Fig. 1;

Figs. 7 andJS are respectively sidegele vation and plan View. of a switch used to di-' rectthe cars selectiveiyto one track or an other;

Referring more in detail to the annexed drawings, numerals .1 and 2 denote two'ofa sries o1 storage reservoirs, or bins adapted to receive coal, gravel, ore or the like. Nu meral 3 denotes airansfcrring track extending-across the tops of these reservoirs. Nu-

m rals a? and 5 denote lowering tracks, eX-

tending d0wnwardlyinto the reservoirs to 1)OlI1tS, I1101'6 or less close to the bottom thereof, while-16 denotes an elevating track extending from a point near or below the ground level.- Numerals 'Z and 8 denote mailing-for getting v oal or the like into the hoisting andtransterring buckets 9, and in theypresent instance denote a railway track and a chute by means of which the coal or r 1 l i Silllllfll' substance is transferred to the buck et 9,.which bucket is pivotally carriedby thecar or truck 10. It is customary, though not necessary,- in structures of this kind, to

provide the storage liiins or'reservoirs each witha bottom suliiciently elevated from the ground .level so; that the contents of the bin' inay be run out ofachute into a delivery truck or the like to behauled away to points where fina-ldelivery is to be made.

' Reterencewill now be had more particularly to Figs. '2,p3, and 4i, from which it will be evident that the pivots 11, of the bucket are:.attached some little distance above the center of gravity thereof, andtherefore-that each ofthe-angles of thetruck. is a. vweb or gussettoreinforce the angle.v Connected to the upper gussets, 13, .on a line passing sub bucket and truck is a handle orbail 14,

ioo

which is pivotallyconnected to the gussetsg I '13 at The-bucket is normally provided wi h eipli r tygof I apertures 1 6 in nt is used a sin 'le roller will be nivotal'ly will run in the channel.

mounted at each corner oi the truck and This will furnish means for preventing either up or down motion, transverselyot the track As will be seenby reference to Fig. 1 when the T-iron track is used a pair or rollers will. be used at each corner of the truck. These will serve asanti-i riction meansand means to prevent motion of the car transversely of the track.

A double drum hoisting mechanism, denoted generally by the numeral 21, is provided, and, by means of this, the car may be caused to move along the track and controlled in its n'iovements thereon. Leading from one of the drums of the hoist is a cable 22, which is connected with the bucket. 9 at '23, while another cable 24 passes up over a pulley 25 to one drum 26, mounted on shaft 27, carried by the jack 28; Another drum 29 is carried by shaft 27 and around this drum is wound a cable 80,whose tree end is connected to the bale 1 1 at 31. s

It will be seen by reference to. 1 that when cable 21 is wound up by the hoisting mechanism 21, it will be unwound from drum 26, and, at the. same time, cable 30 will be wound up on drum 29, thereby causing the truck to be pulled up track 6. While this is being done cable 22 is allowed to run slack and will therefore unwind from the hoisting drum. As the car passes the switch 32 (Fig. 1) it will run down the track under theinfiuence, ot the force of gravity, until it is stopped by cable 80, as shown in the upper right hand dotted position in this tigui' e. From this point on the brake in hoist 21 will, be. used to permit the unit "hiding of cable 2t from the hoist and the simultaneous unwinding of cableSO troiiidrui'n This will permitthe car and bucket to descend more or less slowly into the' reservoir until the desiredheight is rcached wlien the car will be stopped. The other el-rum ot' hoist 21 isnow rotated to wind up cable 22 which causes the bucketto be dumped as sliownin the lowerright hand dot-ted position in 1. Further winding of thisdruni will" pull the bucket" and car back up sacks over switch 32, and past the crest of track 6, when it will be necessary to apply the brake to the hoisti-ngdruni so. as to regulate the speed at which; cable. inna e; to unwind, thereby regulating the-"speed of the descent of the bucket. In this way the bucket can be allowed to again descend to loading position as shown in Fig. 1.

A shaft 33, carrying a pulley 34, is pivoted at 35, in the sides of the car. When the bucket 9 reaches the dumping position and cable 22 is pulled to invert the same, this cable comes 'in contact with pulley 8t, and is kept thereby from contact with brace member 12 which prevents it from being roughened and worn out by sliding over the edge of said brace member. hen the bucket is dumped, pins 1'? come in contact with frame members 18', as stated above, and prevent the bucket from turning over farther than desired. This insuresthat as the car goes back up the track -1 towards the, upper dotted line position at the ri ht, said car would tend to. automatically assume its normal upright posit-ion. This is prevented,-

however, by reason of the fact that cable 22 is being pulled on to elevate the car. Therefore, as soon as the tension on cable 22 is released, after the car passes switch 32, the bucket will assume its normalpositic-n. The, end walls of the bucket may be reinforced in any desired manner as by hav ing bosses formed thereon or having reinforcing plates secured thereto, on the inside,

but preference is givento the latter. Holes 16 are then made through the walls and reinforcements and tapped to receive the screw threaded ends of thepins 17. -This makes the connection strong enough so that when the pins 17 strike frame members 18 there will be no danger of their being Julled out. It is sometimes desirable to be abl the bucket at an intermediate position and it is for this reason that a plurality of holes 16 are provided. For example, it it is desired to have a loading hopper located above the hoist 21, so that material may be loaded into I a wagon located between the hoist and reservoir 1, the pins 17 will be put into such openings 16 as will permit the bucket 9 to be inverted when between the two positions shown at the left in Fig. 1. I

Any suitable actuating means 38 may be provided for moving and holding the switches 32 up into position, as shown at the right in Fig. -1, or permitting them to as sume the lower position shown at the left in Fig. 1. It is obvious that by properly inanipulatingthese switches thefbucket 9' n'1ay be caused'to descend in any one of a series of reservoirs. llfhen the bucket; descends to near the level of the coal in the reservoir before itis dumped, there will be lessbreal age of the coal upon inverting the bucket.

In order to indicate the position of the bucket 9 with respect to loading position shoi ii'n- Fie'. ,1, as well as switcli'es 32" and dumping position, certain mechanism is pro vided which will now be described. lldouiits ed on the rame of the hoi tis a bracket e to dump 40, which is secured in any suitable manner toa casing of an indicator 41. Extending through the casing is a shaft 42, carrying adjacent one end a gear 43 and having intermediate its endsa worm 44 which meshes with a suitable worm-wheel 45 within the casing. The casing of the indicator 41 is so mounted that the gear 43 engages the gear 46 andis positively driven thereby. It will therefore be apparent that when the hoisting engine 47 drives the gear 46 it will also drive the gear 43 and the pointer 48 carried by the hoist is operated the bucket 9 approaches the I first switch 32 and simultaneously the indicator 48 approaches the first indicating mark 54. If it is desired to have the bucket go into the first bin or reservoir,'it will theni be necessary to see that the switch 32 1s so turned that this may'take place. If, on the contrary, it is desired that the bucket shall go down into one of the other bins, then it will be necessary to see that the first switch 32 is raised into position to direct the truck on totrack 3 rather than track 4; It will be clear that with the arrangement shown it will be very easy to know where the truck is with relation to any one of the storage bins or pockets since the pointer 48 will at all times indicate its position with respect to the various switches 32. r

When one of the bins 1, 2, etc., is being filled, it is desirable to know where the bucket 9 is in relation to the top of the "coal 1 in that particular bin so as to know when to dump the coal by inverting the bucket. T his is accomplished by providing an indicator on the ring 56 which is rotatable with respect to the casing of the indicator 41. When one of the bins is being filled, the. initial dumping position is determined and the ring 56 is then so set that the indieating point will denote when the bucket is to be inverted. As the bin fills up, it will be necessary to dump the bucket sooner, and the ring 56 will therefore have to be rotated until point 55 indicates the proper dumping position of the bucket, as shown by the approach of pointer 48 to point 55. The setting indicated in Fig. 1 is for the dumping of coal near the bottom of the fifth bin, whereas, if it were desired to dump near the bottom of the first bin point 55 would be set. probably, near the third indicator 54 and gradually advance toward the first indicator 54 as the bin was filled. It is believed that the operation of the indicator shown in Fig. l will be clear without furdescription thereof.

It is :of course understood that the specific description of structure set forth above, may be departed from withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention as set forth in this specification and the appended claims.

Having now described my invention, I claim: I

1. In a structure of the character described, an elevating track, a transferring track, a lowering track, saidtracks being connected, a transfer bucket, movable on said tracks, and mechanism for moving said bucket back and forthupon said tracks.

2. In a mechanism of the character described, a material transferring mechanism,

stora e reservoir for the rece tion of the material, a track leading down into the reservoir to'carry the mechanism down into the same, and-=11ieans-for dumping the material from the mechanism when the same has reached a selected point in the reservoir.

3; In an apparatus of the character described, a storage reservoir, a trackleading to the top thereof, and fromythe top down into the interior thereof, a car traveling on said track, a normally {11)llglltlfll0li9l] carried by said car, mechanism for lowering said car into the reservoir and for dumping said bucket at any selected height therein.

4. In a vmechanical arrangement of the character described, a plurality of storage reservoirs, a track extending across the tops of thereservoirs, a track in each reservoir extending downwardly from the first named track towards the bottoms of the reservoirs. an elevating track,a bucket traveling on said tracks, and means for shifting the bucket from the first named track .to any .oneof the downwardly extending. tracks.

5. In a structure of the character described, cooperating, elevating, transferring andlowering tracks, a bucket traveling onv said tracks, a iack on the transferring track to assist in raising, transferring and lowering the bucket, and mechanism for actuating the bucket on the various tracks.

6. In a mechanism of the character described, atransferring device comprising a car and a bucket carried thereby, said bucket being pivoted above its center of gravity upon said car, means on the bucket to engage the car to limit the rotation of the bucket with respect to thecar, and means for moving the transferring device, con nected to the car. 7

7. In a mechanism of the character de scribed. a transferring device comprising a" car and a bucket carried thereby, said bucket being. pivoted above its center of gravity upon sald car, and means for noving the transferring device connected to the car at loaded.

llll) ill 8. In a structure of the character described. a transferring device comprising a car and a bucket pivoted thereon, said bucket having stops shiftable to diiferentpositions to stop the same where desired when it is turned on its pivots to dump the contents of the bucket.

9. In a construction of the character described, a plurality of storage bins, tracks and hoisting mechanism for filling said bins, said hoisting" mechanism including a truck carrying a bucket and said tracks in cluding switches for diverting said truck and bucket into one or another of said bins, in combination with an indicator for indicating the approach of the truck to any one of the switches.

10. In a construction of the character described, a plurality of storage bins, tracks and hoisting mechanism for filling said bins, said hoisting mechanism including a truck carrying a bucket and said tracks including switches for diverting said truck and bucket into'one or another of said bins, in combination with an indicator for indicating the approach of the truck to any one of the switches, said indicator also indicating when to invertthe bucket. for emptying the same.

11. In a structure of the character described, a storage bin, bucket mechanism for transferring material from outside the bin into said bin, means for indicating when the bucket has reached dumping position within the bin, and means connected tothe bucket mechanism and the indicating means for operating the same by the movement of the bucket mechanism.

12. In a structure of the character described, a storage bin, a bucket, hoisting; mechanism for raising the bucket to the top oi the bin and letting it down into the same, and means cooperating with the hoisting mechanism to indicate. Where the bucket is in the bin with. relation to the dumping point in said bin. p

13. In a structure of the character described, an elevating track, a transferring track, a lowering, track, and a switch to selectively connect the elevating track with the other tracks, in combination with a transfer bucket, movable on said tracks, and mechanism for moving said bucket back and forth upon said tracks.

14.111 a material transferring means, tracks for elevating, transporting, and lowering' the material, material holding means movable on said tracks to transfer the material, and switches in said tracks to direct the holding means to one or another of the lowering tracks.

15. In material transferring means, tracks for elevating, transporting, and lowering the material, material holding means movable on said tracks, totransfer the material, switches in said tracks to direct the holding means to one or another of the lowering tracks, and means to actuate said switches.

16. In material transferring means, a track for elevating material from a pit, another track connected with the first named track for transferring the material to another location, other tracks capable of being connected with the second named track for lowering the material to a lower position, material holding means movable on said tracks for carrying materials from one place to another, switches associated with said tracks to direct the holding' means to one or another of the lowering tracks, and means to actuate said switches. I

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my nameto this specification.

CLARENCE A. SCHUBERT. 

